Insights: Policy

Despite its near unanimous support in the House, the Ratepayer Protection Act (RPA) this week failed to reach the 60 votes on the Senate floor necessary for its consideration. The RPA requires that state utility commissions consider (not mandate) adopting a federal standard for absorbing the cost of power they consume. However, in a related...

Democratic Healthcare Agenda (2027+)

House Democrats’ healthcare working group submitted a policy framework to Minority Leader Jeffries (D-NY), outlining potential policy priorities for next year and beyond.

Drug Pricing (Medicare Part B/GLOBE Model)

MS finalized the Global Benchmark for Efficient Drug Pricing (GLOBE) Model, a mandatory CMMI model that applies international reference pricing to certain Medicare Part B drugs.

Tech / Media / Telecom

AI Safety/Model Review Legislation

President Trump and AI industry leaders met at the White House this week. The industry leaders signed a pledge to uphold AI safety standards, while Trump stated clearly that he prefers AI industry self-regulation over a new prescriptive regulatory regime and that the DOJ, FBI, and other agencies have sufficient authority to police the industry....

CMS announced it canceled ~315k allegedly unauthorized Marketplace enrollments covering more than 760k individuals, from which the agency expects to recover roughly $2.2b in advance premium tax credits (APTCs). The administration also said it identified roughly 419k additional enrollees who will undergo further eligibility verification, including...

Laboratory Reimbursement (Medicare)

CMS released preliminary CY27 Clinical Laboratory Fee Schedule (CLFS) rates based on updated private-payer data. Of the 1,528 test codes for which CMS calculated a new private-payer median, 1,171 would see lower rates than in CY26, with the new benchmarks averaging roughly 16% below current rates. However, statutory phase-in protections limit...